February 9-10, 1957 - New Smyrna Beach, Florida

Two years before the Daytona International Speedway opened, the New Smyrna Beach race took place at the municipal airport, an offshoot of NASCAR’s Speed Week. Beach racing was nearing its end. It was supervised by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and directed by jazz bandleader and sports car enthusiast Paul Whiteman, who was a confidant of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr.

Of the few surviving 16mm films by Chattanooga's Walter M. Cline, Jr., this historic event is captured in one of them.

Golden Age of Racing

In the years following World War II, sports car racing experienced a renaissance. It was also a rare time in history where amateurs and semi-pro drivers raced together.

Cline was regularly involved with local road racing and 'hill climbs'. By 1956, he travelled regionally - competing at historic venues like Sebring, Virginia International Speedway, and New Smyrna Beach.

Digitized frame-by-frame from 16mm film

Mr. & Mrs. Cline

With their 1956 Corvette

Walter M. Cline Jr. and his wife Mary travelled to several regional races in the late 1950s. Cline's first race car was a 1955 Ford Thunderbird in Robin's Egg Blue. He soon upgraded to a 1956 Corvette.

By 1958, he's seen in a Maserati, in which he found success at Courtland, Alabama in 1958.

Carroll Shelby

1st place: Ferrari 410 Sport Spider

Carroll Hall Shelby (1923 –2012) American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur.

Shelby won the race that day in one of the few Ferraris designed and built by Sergio Scaglietti and is one of just two 410 Sports equipped with a Ferrari-built 24-spark plug 4.9-liter V-12.

On its fuel tank, Shelby wrote: “Mr. Ferrari told me that this was the best Ferrari he ever built.”

This historic racecar sold at auction in 2022 for $22M.

Jan Harrison

Carroll Shelby's future ex-wife

In 1962, she married Carroll Shelby in Tijuana, Mexico. It was his second marriage. Wealthy sportsman John Edgar drove them in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, serving champagne and caviar en route.

Throughout the 50s, Harrison was featured as a post-WWII pin-up model in dozens of magazines of the day. She also ventured into films and television, most notably recurring roles on "Gunsmoke" and "Sea Hunt" with Lloyd Bridges.

Their marraige lasted less than a year. Shelby would marry 3 more times.

Paul Whiteman

The "King of Jazz" turned sports car promoter

Race host Paul Whiteman (1890-1967). Decades earlier, he and his Orchestra was the most popular band of the 1920s and represented the apex of jazz to the general public; most notable for commissioning George Gershwin to write Rhapsody in Blue which became his orchestra’s signature tune.

Whiteman admired and drove fine automobiles - mastering his celebrity status to promote racing. He regularly attended the Daytona Beach events and became close friends with NASCARs founder, ‘Big’ Bill France.

"Paul Whiteman Trophy" races, arranged by the Central Florida Region SCCA, were held from 1958 until 1972. The 1958 event was held at the New Smyrna Beach Airport, and from 1961, it was held annually at the Daytona Speedway